Wire stretcher



Oct. 24, 1967 M. c. STORY WIRE STRETCHER Filed July 19, 1966 INVENTORMALCOLM 6. STORY BY a W ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,348,812 WIRE STRETCHER Malcolm C. Story, 521 S.Willson Ave., Bozeman, Mont. 59715 Filed July 19, 1966, Ser. No. 566,2991 Claim. (Cl. 254-161) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire stretcher fordrawing two free ends of wires together including a frame of channelshape with a Windlass shaft at one end and a flexible cable connected tothe shaft with the other end of the flexible cable connected to acomealong for engaging one wire with a crank handle at one end of theWindlass shaft for hand operation thereof and a ratchet at the other endof the shaft and outside of the channel whereby the cable can beconnected to one wire while the other wire is adapted to be connected tothe end of the web portion of the channel opposite the Windlass end witha serrated cam adapted to engage the other wire so that the ends of twoWires can be drawn together to obtain the desired tension or the handleof the cam may be used to connect the wire stretcher to a post or otherpermanent structure by means of a separate wire passing through anaperture in the end of the handle for operating the cam.

The present invention relates to a pulling device for stretching a wireor the like in installing and repairing fences, including theconventional barbed wire and relates to a solution for the problemsolved by my prior Patent 3,020,021, issued Feb. 6", 1962.

Heretofore, conventional wire stretchers have been excessively large andheavy to have sufficient strength and usefulness in wild country,particularly where the fencing repair equipment had to be carried byhand or on horseback and therefore the prior structures have not beensatisfactory.

An object of the present invention is to provide a small, light-weight,pulling device or wire stretcher which can easily be carried in aworkmans pocket and manipulated by one person to install and repairfences.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wire stretchingdevice which can be used to exert a pull between a fixed element and awire, or between two sections of wire so that the two sections may beconnected together.

Other and further objects will be apparent as the description proceedsand upon reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of the wire stretcher of the present inventionin use applying tension to the broken end portions of a wire, showinghow such broken end portions can be brought into overlapping relationfor twisting together for repairing the broken wire.

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the wire stretcher attached to a fence post bythe lever for operating the clamp grip secured to the post by wire andwith the come-along-grip at the end of the flexible cable secured to astrand of wire to be attached to the post or to another section of wire.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the come-along-grip shown in FIGURES 1 and 2in wire clamping position.

FIGURE 4 is a left side elevation of the device.

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation of the device with the handle and cablebroken away, showing the Wind-up reel with the loose wafer washersbetween which the cable is wound.

Briefly, the present wire stretcher includes a channelshaped frame inwhich the side flanges provide bearings for a wind-up shaft which isoperated by a crank at one 3,348,812 Patented Oct. 24, 1967 end and isprevented from rotation in one direction by a ratchet and pawl with aflexible cord secured to the shaft. A come-along-grip is secured to thefree end of the flexible cord and is adapted to grip a strand elementsuch as barb wire while a stud is fixed to the other end of thechannel-shaped member with a toothed cam clamp grip including a handlepivotally mounted adjacent the stud with a toothed cam positioned forcoopera tion with the stud to effectively clamp a wire whereby when aWire is clamped by such clamp grip and held in the comealong and theshaft is rotated by the crank handle, a tensile force is appliedbringing the wires together so that they may be permanently joined forrepairing a broken fence or installing a new fence. The lever of theclamp grip is provided with an aperture whereby the free end of thehandle can be secured to a fixed element such as a fence post to takethe reaction of the stretched wire secured to the corne-along-grip.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the wire stretcher includes a framehaving a top web 10 and side webs 11 and 12, with a shaft 13 rotatablymounted in such flanges 11 and 12. Outwardly of the flanges the shaft 13has milled square end portions with one end receiving a ratchet 14 whichis staked thereto by a rivet-like process in which the squared end isdeformed by a chisel-type bit and the other end of shaft 13 is milledsquare and receives the crank 15 staked by the same process. The ratchet14 is prevented from reverse rotation by a pawl 16 pivoted to the flange11 with one end of the pawl serving as a handle so that the operator mayselectively cause the other end of the pawl to engage into the ratchetteeth to prevent clockwise rotation as observed in FIG- URES 1 and 4.

The free end of the crank 15 is provided with a lefthand threadedaperture which receives the threaded end of a bolt 17 serving as ahandle with a lock-nut 18 adjacent the threaded end of the bolt 17 foreifectively locking the bolt handle to the free end of the crank handle15. A sleeve such as a piece of rubber tubing 19 is freely rotatable onthe shank of the bolt 17 to facilitate the operation thereof. Forstorage and shipping the bolt handle 17 is readily removable from itsoutwardly projecting position and may be applied from the inside surfaceof the crank arm 15 to reduce the overall di mensions for storage andpackaging.

A freely rotatable wafer thin washer 20 is applied to each end of theshaft 13 to confine a cable 21 between such washers and prevent rubbingof the cable 21 on the flanges 11 and 12 of the frame.

The cable or cord 21 is a nylon cord of approximately of an inch, sealedat both ends by heat to prevent unraveling, with one end secured by aset screw 22 passing through the .cord adjacent one end of the shaft, asshown in FIGURE 5, with the other end secured by a bowline knot to theeye of a commercially available come-along-grip 23 having a pivoted cammember 24 cooperating with a relatively fixed surface 25 integral withthe body of the comealong 23, whereby a section of wire 26 can beeffectively held between the jaws formed by cam 24 and fixed surface 25.

A stud 27 including a rivet passing through a washer 28 and a spool-likeelement 27A is fixed to the top of the frame by riveting with the washer28 extending outwardly therefrom to receive the wire 29 nested againstthe web 10, spool-like element 27A and serrated cam 31. The outersurface of washer 28 is removed to reduce the overall width of thedevice and provide clearance for crank 15. A clamp grip, including alever handle 30 and a serrated cam portion 31, is pivotally mounted on astud 32 for movement from the wire-gripping posi tion shown in FIGURE 1to a position in which the handle 30 extends outwardly beyond the frame.In such extended position handle 30 may be secured by a wire 33 passingthrough an aperture 34 in the free end of the handle 30 and around afence post 35 with the ends of wire 33 twisted together securing thedevice to the post 35 for drawing the Wire 26 held in come-along-grip 23toward the post 35, as shown in FIGURE 2.

A viewing opening 37 is provided for the operator to make sure that thewinding is satisfactory and also provides additional clearance for theflexible cord, thereby permitting the use of a smaller frame for thedevice so that the frame which is about six inches long can be easilyheld in one band.

From the above description, the operation is believed to be obvioussince one wire 26 is secured to the comealong-grip extending from oneend of the device and the other end of the device is secured to therelatively stationary wire 29 by the clamp 31 and stud 27 or secured tothe post 35 with the cord 21 extending an appreciable distance from theframe. The operator then grips the frame 10, 11, 12 with the left handand the crank handle 19 with the right hand and turns the handle to windthe cable on the shaft 13 until the desired tension is obtained when thepawl 16 is moved to engage the ratchet 14, thereby preventing reversemovement, at which time the workman may release both hands from thedevice and use both of his hands to manipulate the loose ends of thewire 26 and 29 to twist them together or to twist them onto a length ofwire for bridging a gap, thereby completing the joining of the wire 26and 29. Thereafter, a slight turn on the handle 19 will release thepawl16 and after the tension in cable 21 is relieved the come along 23 andthe lever cam grip 30, 31 are disengaged from the wires and/or post andthe device is readily usable for the next repair.

The operator as he winds the cord 21 on the shaft 13 observes throughthe viewing opening 37 the condition of the cord and by slightmovementof the device by adjustment of the left hand can control the winding toprevent jamming of the cord 21 against theframe.

It will be apparent that changes may be made within the spirit of theinvention as defined by the valid scope of the claim.

I claim:

A hand operated light weight wire stretcher of a size for reception in apocket of an article of clothing and for support by one hand of anoperator for pulling at least one wire intermediate its length toward arelatively fixed element comprising a channel shape frame having sideflanges adjacent one end thereof and open at said one end for the freepassage of a cable, the web of said channel being substantiallycontinuous and substantially free of projections from said one end toclosely adjacent the other end, a windup reel shaft rotatably mounted insaid flanges closely adjacent said one end, crank means of a lengthapproximately the distance between the axis of said shaft and the otherend of said frame to rotate said shaft, means to selectively preventrotation of said shaft, a flexible cable secured by one of its ends tosaid shaft adapted to have its free end attached to a wire intermediatethe length of the wire, means closely adjacent the other end of saidframe for attaching said frame to-a fixed element whereby rotation ofsaid shaft will cause said cable to move said wire toward said fixedelement under the desired tension whereby said wire may be fixed to saidrelatively fixed element, a cornealong secured to the free end of thecable for attachment to.

one of the wires being stretched, the fixed elementbeing the other wirebeing stretched, and the means for securing said other end of the frameto the other wire is a wire engaging clamp upwardly from the web of thechannel with, said stud having a flange spaced from the web and aserrated cam having a handle is pivotally mounted on said web adjacentthe other edge of said web so the serrated cam will react against theother wire being stretched to confine the other wire between said weband the flange of said stud when the cam handle lies within theprojected outline of the frame to fix the wire stretcher with respect tosaid other wire, the cam handle being movable from a position overlyingthe frame to a position extending beyond the said other end of theframe, said cam handle having a recess for attachment to the relativelyfixed element when the cam handle extends outwardly from the said otherend of said frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 484,881 10/1892 Price 254-161618,187 1/1899 Rhodes 254-161 2,944,788 7/1960 Schaefer 254-1613,020,021 2/ 1962 Story 254-161 3,141,353 7/1964 Gray 254-161.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner. H. C. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner.

including a wire engaging stud projecting

